Local Search and Mobile Optimization

Kaitlin King-Lamas

Senior Manager of Marketing Operations

Local search and mobile optimization are two of the ways we help ensure that your target customers will find your medical practice or spa and have a positive experience engaging with your brand online.

Understanding Local Search

You may have noticed that maps commonly dominate the top of search results, especially when local results are the best answer to the query. Whether implied (searching for a service while on your phone) or explicit (including the name of a city in your search query), each of the major search engines detect “local intent” and return geographically relevant results.

Most reports indicate that more than half of searches have local intent, so dominating local search is a high priority for our clients.

We specialize in helping our clients earn top placement in the map search results. Known as local search optimization (LSO), this requires tactics that are distinct from traditional SEO.

The Importance of Mobile Optimization

Have you ever stopped to think about how often you use your phone to find something online? A restaurant? A gas station? A doctor’s office? The mobile factor is becoming more and more important.

At Etna, we’ve seen a huge shift in recent years that affects all of our clients across North America: An average of 60% of all website traffic is now coming from mobile devices. With people relying less on their desktop computers, and search engines always striving to provide the most relevant, top quality results, your website must be designed to perform well on mobile devices (mobile optimization).

While basic keyword ranking factors are still critical on mobile platforms, a website should be what’s called “mobile-friendly.” This means elements of the technology take into consideration the mobile user experience. We rely on tools like Google Search Console to ensure technical aspects of our clients’ websites are in line with Google’s standards for mobile-friendly. This includes consideration of fonts and font sizes, images or media, previously popular software technology such as Flash, and spacing between touch functions so using a finger doesn’t become problematic.

We do uncommonly good work based on customized strategy, but that’s just the beginning.

Our Approach to Local Search and Mobile Optimization

When our clients have all their local search signals fine-tuned and their website is optimized for mobile, they are positioned to be stronger competitors. While 60% of all searches are being performed on mobile devices, the results that appear above the fold on a phone screen are only the local pack results. This means users must scroll down to see the organic results, which isn’t impossible, but research has proven the higher up you appear within the results the more likely you will earn that click.

Being your trusted partner and marketing advisor it’s, our business to dig deep and look at your website from the consumer perspective. This means considering their online search experience—both on desktop and mobile; doing what we can to get your site ranked well for both organic and local search; and ensuring your website provides a pleasant user experience whether it’s from a desktop or a mobile device.

At Etna, we perform our work with a purpose—and that’s to help you achieve your goals. We’re passionate about our craft and expertise, and we’re always driven to do things better.

What to Expect

You deserve to know what you’re going to get from an online marketing partner, and we are happy to ease your mind by breaking it down for you.